Thursday, April 13, 2017

Life as a Christian

So, sometimes it is really hard to be a Christian - to live as a Christian, and to support actions (and non-actions) that promote the Christian creed.

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day that Christians around the world remember the evening that Jesus sat and ate with his disciples all together in one room, and had the "Last Supper" with them (and what became the first communion), knowing what would happen the next day. It was also when He said to do unto others as He would want you to do... which is to love each other, and to serve those who need you. He went off into the garden and prayed for Himself, for strength, and for understanding. He prayed for us too.

Flash forward to now.

Today, Maundy Thursday, our country dropped a big bomb on the mountainous area in eastern Afghanistan, the area where Isis hides in tunnels and lives away from others. So, hopefully the damage by this bomb was in areas that left Isis leaders feeling more vulnerable and frightened. Their hide-ways were damaged. We haven't heard yet about the numbers killed by the bomb, but certainly some were. I'm praying that innocent people were not there, hurt or killed by today's actions.

Every time something like this happens, I feel conflicted. We live in a world with such horrible, horrible people. We live in a world where there is an amazing amount of pain, and hurting, and unfair decisions, and disrespectful action - every.single.day. Dropping a bomb makes a big statement.

When I heard about it this afternoon I felt a bit scared. No lie. I wondered what will happen next. Will there be retaliation from Isis? Because, there usually is. Will it be here in America? An eye for an eye. Will it be a surprise event? When? It's a scary world - and events like what happened today make it even scarier.

So, what should I think?

As a Christian,... HOW should I think?

Sometimes I feel I live in two parallel worlds: The Christian world of loving and accepting everyone, and being open to differences (in fact celebrating them) and reaching out to help those who need it. And, then, the other "real" world of living in a country that gets involved in world political and social conflicts... a country that considers itself the 'leader' of the world, and sometimes acts in ways that goes against the Christian creed.

So, where do I fall in my belief? And what do I do about it? For sure, I am happy that I live in a country that allows freedom of religions and doesn't officially put one before another. (Although, does it really?) I like that the US says it accepts all... as long as we can live in peace together.

But, what would Jesus think about military action against this evil? Jesus was the opposite of how we normally think... he said to show love to the enemy. He humbled himself instead of being ego driven. He turned everything upside down.

So, what to think of this all?

Deep thoughts for me on this Thursday before Easter. And, who knows, maybe it brings home the meaning of Easter. Pain, and differences, and confusion - and death - is not the end of it. As a Christian I believe that.

Those are all hard questions and I know God doesn't take delight in the death of the wicked. As Christians, we don't want to see people die, but these people seem to take great delight in killing and inflicting horrible evil upon innocent people and they have no intention of stopping. There's no end to it until Jesus returns. Thank God we have hope in Jesus Christ!